It started off in bizarre fashion but I'm now gripped. Its a book like no other, seen through the eyes of a 15 year old autistic/aspergers boy (not sure which).

That's next for me - a few people have reccomended it to me, so really looking forward to it.

Just finished Room by Emma Donoghue and that has a similarly unique narrative as it's all told from the POV of a 5 year old boy. You wouldn't think it works, but after a few pages it really does. Not read a lot of books lately but despite the occasionally grisly subject matter it was one of the more enjoyable ones.

Used my Christmas tokens to further swell my pretensions and can now recommend Andrew Graham-Dixon's biography/assessment of Caravaggio. As well as a fair and balanced account of a dramatic life that takes in murder, rape, the Knights of St John on Malta, various popes, plague, duels, poems about "Johnny Bo//ock" and the insanity of Italian politics in the 1590s and 1600s it's brilliant at talking about his work and its wider context.

Just finished Room by Emma Donoghue and that has a similarly unique narrative as it's all told from the POV of a 5 year old boy. You wouldn't think it works, but after a few pages it really does. Not read a lot of books lately but despite the occasionally grisly subject matter it was one of the more enjoyable ones.

I have Bear Grylls' autobiography Mud, Sweat and Tears on order from the library to enjoy over the weekend.

Today I recieved delivery of Heston Blumenthal The Fat Duck Cookbook for a mere £19. Splendid, my collection of his books is swelling nicely.

I'm not really one for fiction, although I do have my eye on borrowing some horror novels I got a friend for Christmas. Also, I've had Birdsong for a few years now but I never got a round to reading it, and now I'm stuck with a conundrum because I want to watch the BBC adaptation as well!

Working my way through Charlie Owen's quartet of novels set in the fictional northern town of Hanstead. Have finished Horse's ###### and Foxtrot Oscar, now into Bravo Jubilee with Two Tribes to follow. Very funny with a real edge to them, some of the characters are superbly crafted.

Edited by Derwent, 17 January 2012 - 09:25 PM.

Have you recently walked 500 miles ? Were you advised to walk 500 more ? Did you fall down at someone's door ?

Currently reading 'That old Ace in the Hole' by Annie Proulx. Not quite sure about this one yet.

Not a whole lot happens, to be honest, but it was okay.

And, just arrived from Amazon, Gil-Scott-Heron's 'The Last Holiday' and George MacDonald Fraser's 'The Complete McAuslan'.

Reading the Gil Scott-Heron book while commuting and 'McAuslan' at home. The GS-H takes a while to get into its groove, but is good stuff. Everyone knows his dad played for Celtic, right? But did you also know:1. As a child, he was one of only three volunteers not to back out when Jackson (Tennessee) decided to end segregation in the city's main high school.2. He once played Ko-Ko the Executioner in a production of 'The Mikado'.

The 'McAuslan' trilogy is based on George MacDonald Fraser's post-war military career, which was covered in the superb 'Quartered safe out here'. 'McAuslan', on the other hand, is a more fictionalised take on actual events, with names and places changed to protect those involved. It is also written in a more broadly comedic style, but is a great read and very very funny.

It is probably even funnier if you've had actual military experience. The titular soldier is an accident-prone, filthy, unkempt Glaswegian private, described as "the worst soldier since Ancient Pistol" and most of the stories revolve around him and his uncanny ability to muck up everything and anything.

Between the optimist & the pessimist
The difference is quite droll:
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist sees the hole.

When I heard that Stuart Maconie will be speaking at an event in Waterstones in Leeds in May, I decided to read his book "Pies and Prejudice. In search of the North".
My first impressions on flicking through it are that it looks similar in style and content to "Lancashire Where Women Die of Love" by Charles Nevin, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

www.geofflee.net for news of my novels, One Winter, One Spring, One Summer, One Autumn and Two Seasons. All are written against a strong Rugby League background, set in South Lancashire and inspired by the old saying about work: "They could write a book about this place. It would be a best seller".

When I heard that Stuart Maconie will be speaking at an event in Waterstones in Leeds in May, I decided to read his book "Pies and Prejudice. In search of the North". My first impressions on flicking through it are that it looks similar in style and content to "Lancashire Where Women Die of Love" by Charles Nevin, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I like Maconie's books. 'Adventures on the High Teas' is his search for Middle England and if you like 'Pies and Prejudice' you 'll like this one too.

I'll investigate that Nevin book - thanks.

Between the optimist & the pessimist
The difference is quite droll:
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist sees the hole.

A true story of one of the world's richest men who fell to his death out of an aeroplane halfway across the Channel, a classic locked door mystery, and the search 60 years later for who did it. Written by former Times journo and ITN political correspondent (and a customer of mine!). Fascinating stuff.

In the South of France and fancy a banger?www.mistersaucisse.fr"Fine sausages for the discerning customer"